This is about the day I almost died… and the day that I too became a Packers fan.
It was a cold December day many years ago. I was in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I was in a family restaurant that was within a stone’s throw of that famous stadium.
The joint was filled with a hungry and talkative lunch crowd. The place was loud with conversations, tinkling of silverware against the flatware, and waitresses buzzing around the tables busy as bees.
The guy across the table said, “So, who’s your favorite football team?”
I remember I had just picked up a french fry and before I popped it into my mouth, I said “The Niners.”
The whole place got absolutely silent. I heard the dropping of a fork on a plate and in the distance a dog barked. Angrily.
You see, that’s Green Bay. By and large, that’s Wisconsin. They love the Packers. No other team has a Home Town like the Packers. No one.
I got two chews on that fry before I quickly said “After the Packers of course.”
Large bearded men sat back down and the waitresses started waiting again. Conversations picked back up and the angel of death turned and walked away from me.
I learned an important lesson then. If you don’t like the Packers – just STFU. I spent a lot of time in Wisconsin, Especially around Appleton, Osh Kosh, and a Rhinelander. But I will always remember that day in Green Bay. I learned to love the Packers too.

I would like the thank Martin White for the awesome banners that he made for me. Those banners have been (and will continue to be in the archived site) the “look” of MadOgre.com for a very long time.
But now we are going to a new MadOgre.com and I think it would be nice to have a new Banner or two that gives the new site a new fresh modern – yet appropriately ogrish – look and vibe.
Unfortunately I have zero talent for making digital banners. So I need a bit of help with this. Anyone?

Why buy a Crusader Weaponry rifle? I get asked this from time to time. If I had to give a short answer, “Because they are awesome”. But it just doesn’t quite encompass the total story behind it.

Keep your eyes on the rifle, guys. (Photo by Oleg Volk)

It starts out with the head of Crusader, Joe, aka “Gundoc” on WeTheArmed.com. He’s a guy that knows just how important it is to a warrior that his weapon be both utterly reliable and accurate. Joe comes background with the US Marines and Blackwater. He’s been there. He is soft spoken, because his work can speak for its self. Joe selects the best parts available, then he reworks them and finishes them. Even the smallest parts. They customer can select his/her major components. Handguards, Stocks, Sights, Barrel Length. The lubrication treatment is applied. Then the weapon is assembled and tested.

The permanent lubrication treatment has been tested against Fail-Zero. Our treatment lasted twice as long in independence 3rd party testing.

If the customer wants a custom finish applied to the gun, Joe is a certified Master Refinisher from Lauer Weaponry the guys who make Duracoat. There are other guys that say they can do Duracoat, hobbiests… Joe is one of the professionals and the only one in the State of Utah. So there you have it. Crusader doesn’t just throw parts together like other guys do. The result is a gun that looks awesome, that is made to order, that runs slick and fast, that is accurate and reliable. These are the best AR-15 rifles money can buy.

The rifle, look at the rifle... thx Oleg

So what do I do with Crusader? I’m Crusader’s Senior Trainer. I will teach you how to get the most out of your rifle, to push it and you to the limits. For 2011, I am offering a special deal. A Tactical Carbine course for only a hundred bucks with the purchase of any Crusader AR-15 rifle. That is a day of training for roughly the cost of a 250 round bulk pack of Ultra Max ammo. That deal can not be beaten.

Oh, wait. Yeah. I can beat that. With the purchase of Crusader Broadsword rifle (our SR-25 Type) I am throwing in a Free Pass to any Tactical Carbine course. You buy the rifle and you get the course for free. No, we are not padding the cost of the rifle. I’m throwing it in on my own dime. Get your rifle, come get the training.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. Crusader has teamed up with BattleComp and we are putting these things on our guns unless you specify something different. It makes a .308 gun shoot like a 5.56 gun, and makes a 5.56 feel like you are shooting a .22LR. These are great additions to your rifle and worth the upgrade.

I need a revolver. A full framed 686 with a 4 inch barrel, in .357 Magnum. The one main reason that I need one, is that I don’t have one. J-Frame Snubs are great, but the full size, no compromise feel, comfort, and accuracy of a 686 is on a whole other level. Especially when shooting magnum loads. Now, I like .357… I’m one of the few who actually really do like it and dont prefer to fire .38’s out of it. .44 is great, but the cost per shell is significant higher… and if I was going to go there, I would personally rather step up into the .460 Magnum. Yes, I know it’s a much bigger and heavier frame, but its precisely that frame that makes the .460 shootable. But now I come around to consideration of what I would do with a .460 as its now too heavy for any comfortable daily carry type work… which is where that .357 686 comes into play as a great packing gun. Our good friend Mike Kupari is a big time advocate of the wheel gun, and of the .44 magnum. I think I can put the blame on him for this itch in my brain. The other great thing about getting a .357 Mag Revolver is that it would go very well with my .357 magnum M92 Lever Action that I plan on getting… probably next.

The Police Car subset of the Auto Industry is a fairly boring segment for a narrow nitch market. Yet the money is well worth a car company to pursue that nitch. I drove a Chevy Caprice cruiser. It was a great car. Smooth, roomy. Very comfortable. Fast flat out, but not quick. It handled like a barge. It was stable when parked, or just going straight. Taking a curve caused a massive weight shift that if one didn’t expect it or were otherwise ready for it, could cause one to visit the ditch. However, if you learned to handle it, a good driver to really work the Caprice’s strengths. In it’s day, the Chevy Caprice was the Cop Car of choice all across the country. This became even more matter of fact when Chevy revamped the Caprice into what was affectionately called the “Turtleback”. The police turtlebacks were powered with a detuned LT-1 engine, giving the large and heavy car some good performance.

As most readers of MadOgre.com know, I am not a fan of Ken Salazar. Ken serves under President Obama as the Secretary of the Interior. This fact alone marks him as one that should not be trusted. But now he has taken things a step further and has thumbed his nose at the Constitution and the Rule of Law.

The story that really isnt getting out however is even more infuriating. Out here in the Uintah Basin, the Department of the Interior held an auction for 77 oil drilling leases. The bids were won. The payments were made. But Ken Salazar hasn’t released the permits for drilling. This is a game that the Department of the Interior has been playing for decades and decades, and Ken Salazar has basically crushed it, kept the money, and refuses to release those permits. Some companies were not overly effected. But others were crushed. The results were some company failures and a lot of companies moving drilling operations to North Dakota. The direct economic impact to my little corner of the planet was that we saw a Job Loss of 3,000 workers.

That’s not 3,000 jobs in the country… or in the state… That was 3,000 jobs here in this local area. Think about that. We had homes that went vacant all around town. Foreclosures. Repossessions. Trickle down job losses, deep cuts across the board… financial stresses on families. It ruined lives here. It kicked my own personal economy below the belt, because all the sudden my best customers were unemployed or had moved away. All because of Salazar.

This was devastating to the areas economy. One could see this as an Administration’s punishment on Utah. One could also see this as the work of a bitter, spiteful, and completely unlikable man from Colorado who has a grudge.

Not only is Ken Salazar immensely unlikeable, the man wears a Cowboy Hat and a String Tie. No one wears that anymore. That look went out with the TV show “Dallas”. Get Rid of Salazar!

Our friend David Codrea blogs at War on Guns an the Examiner. David has broken a story wide open that should be looked at very closely. He’s titled this issue “Project Gunwalker.” Let me break it down for you in a nutshell. The BATFE has been tracking illegal gun sales and gun trafficing into Mexico, including illegal gunsales that the BATFE ordered Gun Dealers to allow happen. Let me say that again… The BATFE ordered gun dealers to sell guns illegally. Thousands of guns. Those guns were tracked into Mexico. Some of those guns were found at scenes of crimes, including the murders of US Border Patrol Agents. They ordered the Gun Dealers to make the illegal sales, so they could be tracked. And then the Main Stream Media makes US Gun Dealers look like the bad guys here. As if these crimes wouldn’t have happened if Gun Dealers would have been more honest. This is a farce. This is a breach of trust by the BATFE, and it needs to become public knowledge. Some media outlets are starting to pick up on this. David is going to be coming on Armed American Radio to talk about Project Gunwalker… this is staggering.

Good job breaking this story, David. Keep up the good work. And we will see you on the Radio!

Huey from Huey’s Gunsight had recently sent in some of his AR rifle’s parts for the ST-1 Treatment. This is the permanent Slipstream treatment. From what he’s saying… I think he likes the results.

Independent 3rd Party Testers have put ST-1 up against Fail-Zero. Guess who won? Well, let’s just say that it’s unfortunate that they even have “fail” in their name. The ST-1 treatment lasted twice as long as Fail-Zero before they stopped further testing because they ran out of ammunition.
Slipstream… The best weapon lubrication – period.